Belonging
by matrixaffiliate
Summary: A gift for alljohns. Teddy's memory of it is, well...white. A Teddy/Victoire fluff story. One-shot. Rated T. Everything belongs to JKR.


**Belonging**

 **A/N: A gift for alljohns, who wanted to see Teddy and Vic being parents. I've rewritten this way too many times, so I'm posting it now before I can change my mind again. I hope you like it!**

 **A/N: My headcanon has always been that the Lupins had a boy first (also a** **Metamorphmagus** **) and they named him, John Henry Lupin. :)**

Teddy hadn't realized how much he really remembered of his early childhood outings with Harry and Ginny. But as Johnny turned two and he and Vic started taking Johnny more places, memories of Teddy's past began to flood him. And there was one memory that wasn't so much a memory, as it was a color, and it confused Teddy to no end.

"Ginny?" He asked as he helped her clean the dishes from the family dinner. "When I was a little kid, did you and Harry, or maybe Gran, take me somewhere really white?"

Ginny looked thoughtfully at him a moment before doubling over in laughter.

"So is that a yes or are you laughing at my awful childhood memories?" Ted chuckled.

Ginny braced herself against the counter and tried to catch her breath. "It... It's a yes." She finally managed to choke out, wiping tears from her eyes. "I just can't believe that the only thing you remember from the White Cliffs of Dover and the lighthouse Harry wanted to see is _'white'_!"

Ted blushed, "Well, how old was I?" He hoped it was young enough to cut him some slack.

Ginny's eyes softened and she looked at him fondly, "You were just over two. It was the summer after I finished school, and your poor grandmother hadn't had a day away from you since the Battle. Mum suggested Harry and I fix that. Harry had wanted to see the cliffs and an old lighthouse that used electric lights or something or other. So we spent a good week planning everything out with your gran, bought a hiking carrier and a car seat, and threw you in the back of the Quattro." Ginny's eyes glistened with nostalgia.

"Do you still have that hiking carrier?" Teddy asked immediately. "And could Vic and I borrow the Quattro?"

Ginny hugged him quickly before grabbing his arm and moving them to the attic, "I'm sure we do, and if you buy a new car seat for Johnny, then you may absolutely borrow the Quattro!"

* * *

Ted had put in the effort to learn to drive with Harry at a young age, and the Ministry paid for a few Aurors to get their driver's licenses to be able to work undercover in the Muggle world, so Ted had that as well. But if he was honest, driving was just driving. Harry and Ginny, they were car people, Teddy, not so much.

But he was excited driving today because today Vic was seated in the passenger seat and Johnny was fastened safely in the back seat and they were going on a proper family outing. Something Ted had always wished he'd been able to do with his parents, but now was doing with his own family, and maybe that was just as good.

They pulled up to the parking lot and Teddy read over Harry's instructions again.

"Merlin, Ted," Vic groaned. "This is a tourist trap isn't it?"

Teddy chuckled, "Harry said that this main area is bad, but we're going to hike up to the lighthouse and he said it's not nearly so busy up there."

Vic chuckled, "Because tourists don't have time to hoof-it for an hour there and an hour back."

Ted winked at her before turning to a now awake Johnny. "You ready for some fun, mate?"

"Un! Un!" Johnny chorused, and Ted's heart turned into a glob of mush in his chest.

It took the better part of a quarter of an hour to get sunscreen sprayed on, Johnny's hat firmly in place - a trick Ted learned from his childhood outings into the Muggle world with Harry and Ginny - coax Johnny into the hiking carrier and get the now magically modified diaper backpack - being an Auror has it perks - packed with all their things before they finally started on the path that led up to the lighthouse.

The hike usually took an hour, but the Lupins were in no hurry. They stopped frequently for snacks and let Johnny out of the carrier to walk in his own almost every time his voice chimed "Dow! Dow! Dow!" Johnny's hat went flying at one point in a gust of wind and Teddy thanked Merlin for Quidditch as Vic's experienced hands snatched it back, calming their little boy's cries of "Hat! Hat! Hat!" when she placed it securely back on his head.

It was a good two hours after they started when they walked up to the large, very white, lighthouse. Johnny had been out of the carrier running up the hill when he stopped in his tracks and stared up at the building wide-eyed.

"It's big, huh baby?" Vic chuckled as she scooped him up and snuggled him close. "But Daddy says there's food in there somewhere. Do you want to pick out something to eat?"

Johnny nodded as he continued to stare up at the lighthouse. Ted chuckled and brought his little family into his arms, kissing Vic softly on the cheek. "Then let's get you fed, son."

The cafe inside the lighthouse was actually really good and as Johnny started to tire out, Ted and Vic laid out a blanket near enough to the edge to see the white cliffs while Vic held Johnny close and rocked him to sleep.

"Is this everything you remembered?" Vic asked quietly with a warm smile.

Teddy chuckled, "I don't remember so much color." He moved closer, placing himself behind Vic so she could lean against him for support. Johnny was about 10 kilos and it still amazed Ted how often Vic could hold Johnny's weight and how long she could as well.

She smiled gratefully and leaned into him.

"Honestly," Ted started as he brushed a hand over Johnny's covered head, "I just wanted to start making traditions of our own you know? I love Harry and Ginny and Gran, they're amazing! They all did _everything_ they could to make sure I had a good childhood given that my parents weren't there." Teddy ran a hand through his hair, "But I always wished to be like everyone else. I always questioned my belonging, fought the worry that I was a burden. But the three of us, I don't feel like that. With the three of us, for the first time in my life, I feel like this is where I belong."

Vic slowly lowered Johnny onto the picnic blanket and wrapped his blanket - the kiddo had developed an attachment - around him and turned to her husband.

"You definitely belong with us," and she kissed him softly.

Teddy willingly returned her affections, still marveling at how good this felt after so many years. Kissing Vic felt like home, it always had, but as they got older, it became more pronounced, easier to recognize.

"You know, none of us ever questioned how much you really belonged when you were with Harry and Ginny." She ran a hand through his hair and chuckled at the way his turquoise roots twitched brown just a touch before returning to the electric blue Ted still loved.

"I know, everyone thought it was wonderful." Ted sighed.

"Hey," Vic brought her hand to his face and pushed his face till his eyes were on hers. "What does Johnny do every time he gets back home?"

Ted laughed and smiled at his sleeping toddler. "He falls onto the couch and says 'home!'"

"And why does he do that?" Vic pushed.

"Because I do," Teddy felt like his chest was going to melt into a puddle.

"Ted," Vic ran her hand down his cheek and his chest, resting it over his heart, "Why do you constantly run your hand through your hair?"

Ted stared at her, "I do?"

Vic laughed into her hand, trying not to wake Johnny, and nodded.

Ted chuckled, "Well, probably because Harry does."

Vic managed to calm her outburst, "And why do you think you're so willing to jump first and ask questions later?"

Ted chuckled, "Well that's a combination of both Harry and Ginny."

"Exactly," Vic nodded, "And what about how loyal you are to your family? You'll do positively anything for the six of them."

"That's a combination of Gran, Harry, and Ginny, but you got your number wrong." Ted brought his hand to cradle Vic's face, the wind had swept her hair in a way that made him think about being teenagers at Shell Cottage, and he leaned down and kissed her. He pulled back just slightly before whispering, "It's eight now, not six."

Vic pulled him closer and kissed him hard. "What if we wanted to make it nine?" She whispered in his ear.

Ted felt his chest explode, "Are you ready?" He asked, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice, but by the way Vic laughed at him he failed miserably.

But she nodded and kissed him again, "Yeah, I think I'm ready. And Johnny is too much like you to be an only child; he needs someone to look after." Vic smirked at him and Ted chuckled, looking fondly at Johnny as he wrapped his arms tightly around his blanket.

"And you're too good a dad to reserve to only one kid," she whispered in his ear.

Teddy's chest tightened and he pulled Vic close, holding on to this wonderful woman who for whatever reason saw more of him than anyone else, and loved him regardless of everything she knew about him.

"You're too good," he choked out in a whisper and kissed her head softly.

They sat like that, arms wrapped around each other, the waves hitting the white cliffs below them, Johnny napping quietly, and Teddy was amazingly content. Everything felt right in that moment, and Teddy finally knew he belonged.


End file.
